


Anthology

by inkvoices



Category: Hawkeye (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: (very minor offscreen), Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Deaf Clint Barton, Developing Relationship, F/M, Free Verse, Minor Character Death, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:20:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24225745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkvoices/pseuds/inkvoices
Summary: When she starts working atEx Librisbookshop, the first thing Natasha Romanoff learns about Clint Barton is that he likes poetry a ridiculous amount.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 63
Collections: be_compromised Remix Exchange 2020





	Anthology

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CloudAtlas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudAtlas/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Ex Libris](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13526631) by [CloudAtlas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudAtlas/pseuds/CloudAtlas). 



> A remix of [Ex Libris](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13526631) by CloudAtlas for the be_compromised Remix Exchange 2020. With backstory for Kate Bishop from CloudAtlas’ Young Gods thrown in.
> 
> I've brought the background Clint/Natasha into the foreground and since this Clint loves poetry and CloudAtlas enjoys free verse novels I thought I'd try something a little different. I’m no Sarah Crossan, but this was fun to play with and I hope you enjoy!

FIRST IMPRESSION

The first thing Natasha Romanoff learns about Clint Barton 

is that he likes poetry a ridiculous amount. 

It could have been

that he can burp the alphabet

shatter a bottle

with a coin snapped from his fingers

turn a cartwheel

juggle

and other younger years’ 

performing monkey tricks

to impress little boys.

It could have been

that he can carry box after box

of books without breaking a sweat,

chest flexing beneath literary t-shirt

biceps sculpted by archery

that rear 

in those jeans

all in all a view

Natasha might admit to admiring

along with most of the other staff at _Ex Libris_

if they’re being honest.

It could have been

how the crows feet at the corners of his eyes

scrunch up when he laughs

and how he laughs often and smiles more

and how he always helps where he can

and how he’s a genuinely kind person

\- but then the things Natasha admires most

take longest to learn.

It could have been

that purple is his favourite colour

that he hated his dad but loves his mother

that he volunteers at a food bank

that he always looks surprised when thanked

that he wears hearing aids in both ears

that he collects cheap magnets as souvenirs

that pizza is his favourite food

that weirdly he’ll talk to people on the Tube

that once upon a time he dated Darcy

that he can be the life and soul of a party

that he usually sprawls instead of sits

that he has a rescue dog he loves to bits

it could have been anything else

that Natasha learnt first

but roads diverged

and this be the verse.

  
  


CLINT BARTON: POETRY LOVER

The hot guy who meets Natasha

on her first day at the bookshop

does. not. stop. talking.

about how he swears _One_

by Sarah Crossan

is going to win the Carnegie medal

and they _need_ more copies in,

waving his hands and his coffee around,

both Natasha and the books

thankful it’s in a travel mug.

“It’ll be the first free verse novel to win!”

Like Christmas has come early.

  
  


CLINT BARTON: ASSISTANT MANAGER

“Look,” Natasha says,

trying to cut him off

at the office door,

because hotness aside she is

DONE

with the poetry and

“I have a meeting

with the managers

now

so…”

“Yeah, sorry,” the guy says,

pushing the door open for her.

Then 

walks in after her.

Waves at Maria Hill, Manager,

sitting at a desk with her own coffee.

Says:

“I’m Clint Barton,

Assistant Manager

and Poetry section.”

Well.

Shit.

  
  


PUB NIGHT

They squash in around a table

the first recruits of the team Maria is building

sharing their book loves:

Maria Hill, so far the best Manager Natasha has had, beer in hand

leans forward and smiles sharp

\- a good murder or thriller

Bucky, Goods In and her oldest friend, nursing his second craft beer

tattoos on display

\- science fiction and fantasy, always

Darcy, Bookseller and Fiction, three empty glasses already 

takes this very seriously

\- the classics and _good_ erotica

Wanda, Bookseller and Children’s, somehow with a cup of tea 

hands dancing in the air as she describes

\- picture books, graphic novels, visual storytelling

Clint, _Assistant Manager_ , just a glass of coke she thinks

too close thigh a hot line pressed against hers 

\- poetry, obviously

Natasha, the newest member of the team, enjoying a much-deserved cocktail 

not yet comfortable in this company

\- confesses only to non-fiction

Bucky laughing 

when Clint and Darcy says yes but what _kind_

  
  


CLINT BARTON: PERFORMER 

When asked

Clint rises to his feet

and the occasion.

Announces:

" _Reflections on Ice-breaking_

by Ogden Nash."

Recites solemnly:

_"Candy_

_Is dandy_

_But liquor_

_Is quicker._ "

Raises his glass

to salute the table

and their heckling

with a grin.

Darcy elbows him.

Demands more.

Gets:

" _This is the night mail crossing the Border,_

 _Bringing the cheque and the postal order_ ,"

and they all listen

captivated

as the poem-train chugs uphill

and races down

to applause at the end.

  
  


LISTEN

Look,

Natasha just isn't a huge fan of poetry.

Blame school for murdering it.

Blame whatever.

But listen,

when Clint Barton reads poetry

the way Clint Barton reads poetry

god

she could be a fan of poetry

oh so very easily.

  
  


CONVERSATIONS

Natasha isn’t in the bookshop often 

\- the nature of the job - 

but she has regular contact with Maria

and Bucky keeps her up to date on the gossip,

so even if she doesn’t know she knows of,

and then there’s Clint Barton.

Clint Barton, with an easy smile for everyone,

whose poetry recommendations come with recitations.

Clint Barton, who bothers to learn her tea and coffee preferences

for the rare occasions she’s around for a team brew.

Clint Barton, who’s interested in her market research

and seeks her out to discuss the instagram poetry trend.

Clint Barton, who gets excited when she has an Opinion.

Who asks for her number 

so they can keep talking.

  
  


BEEP TEST

when Natasha asks why poetry

Clint tells her about a test

for children

when you hear the

BEEP

you place a little wooden man

in a slot in the wooden boat

safe

but in the end

a handful of men are still drowning

the lifeboat not even half full

Eighty percent deaf in one ear

Thirty percent deaf in the other

when you BEEP the

-

you BEEP a little BEEP-en man

in a BEEP in the BEEP-en BEEP

you have a language of holes

and no one knows what you’re

There’s:

_I used commas not full stops_

_because everything I said kept running away,_

_I mulled over long paragraphs because I didn't know_

_what a_ natural break _sounded like_

natural poetry

  
  


CLINT BARTON: MENACE

The group of teenagers

that drift into the shop on a Saturday

look shifty

like thieves

like vandals

like trouble

like kids 

scared shitless they're going to get caught

liking books;

the horror.

Passing the poetry section

and a whistling Clint Barton

one makes the mistake of scoffing,

"Poetry is dumb."

" _Never put a Minto_

_in a Vimto._

_That's how the dinosaurs_

_became extincto,"_

Clint recites, smile wide, unrepentant.

Natasha just knows 

they're gonna try that experiment.

  
  


THE THINGS THEY SAY ABOUT HER

A nice thing about new starts

Is starting new

Even if

Sometimes

It feels like old words

Are shadowing

Whispering their lies.

And maybe Natasha _has_

Lived through some shit

But since when

Did whispers

Need reasons?

  
  


DECISION

Natasha knows her value

these days. She has standards

and Clint Barton seems to measure 

up as well as being really hot, okay?

Workplace romances have never been her idea

of a good idea. But as the Main Buyer she's

rarely in the store anyway. And anyway 

who said anything about _romance_?

  
  


NATASHA'S SHELVES 

Are neat rows ordered by height within genre

In pale wood bookcases along one wall

Carefully constructed from IKEA flat packs.

Are pruned regularly of books she won't reread,

Instead donated to schools and libraries,

With dedicated shelves for the new and unread

And signed hardbacks protected by dust covers.

Are popular science and feminism and history

And exploration and cookery and biographies

And travel and art and unexplained mysteries

And all manner of nonfiction interests with

One row of classic novels which are the

Classic Novels According To Natasha and

A handful of memory laden childhood favourites

And on the unread shelf a number of disasters 

Natasha is looking forward to dissecting.

Are doorways and gifts and work and pleasure.

Are something she is proud of and looks after.

Are what makes her otherwise mostly empty house

Her home.

  
  


CLINT'S SHELVES

Are all

over

the place

A mismatched collection of mismatched collections

poetry spilling out

spilling over

kissing cousins

tumbling to the floor

the kitchen bar

the coffee table

the sofa

bristling with bookmarks

facedown open

folded corners

Well-loved territory to explore

Natasha runs her fingers across spines and pages

New and old and second hand and borrowed and lent and gifted and

smell of books

  
  


YES

when she picks up a book 

from the sofa so she can sit down

it falls open at

_...you can do just exactly_

_what you want to..._

_what i'm telling you is_

_Yes Yes Yes_

like it's a sign

  
  


ALL NIGHTER

Natasha fists a hand in his t-shirt

pulling it even tighter across his chest

and smirks and asks

what pretty poetry

would move this to the bedroom.

" _If I were 18 again_ ,"

Clint says so solemn,

but those crinkles at the corners of his eyes

already giving the game away,

" _I'd make love to you for an hour,_

_but i'm not that person anymore._

_Now, I can go all night_."

They're both laughing 

when they fall onto the sheets.

Still smiling

when he peels off

her jeans and underwear and

kneels between her legs

kissing the soft skin

beneath her belly button

fingers ghosting over the nearby scar

without questions

wicked smile as he whispers,

“ _at some point_

_feel free to come up for air_

_preferably with a poem of gratitude_

_held between your teeth”_

and

_can I?_

and Natasha answers

_yes_

  
  


TALKING ABOUT IT: PART ONE

Clint is a talker.

In bed and out of it.

Darcy asks her

if theirs is an open relationship 

because the way Clint describes

the noises that Natasha makes

when he worships between her thighs

makes Darcy want to pray.

Religiously.

  
  


DISCUSSION

They have - not an argument - a discussion, a debate

About boundaries and lines and personal and private.

In the end, Natasha tells Darcy she’s flattered but straight

And has an understanding with Clint about details to keep quiet.

  
  


DATING

It’s not dating when

it’s just a coffee run

because the kettle 

in the breakroom broke.

It’s not dating when

you just need to eat

after a work event

and it’s on expenses.

It’s not dating when

you’re checking out

other bookshops

they’re competition.

It’s not dating when 

you want to try

a new restaurant

and no one else is free.

It’s not.

You might as well join him

when he walks the dog

because the sun is shining

and you need the exercise.

It makes sense 

to go the cinema together

for the two-for-one offer.

Why wouldn’t you

stay over when his place

is closer to the pub

and it’s late.

But if the sex is amazing

and you can talk about anything

and when you’re not spending time with him

you think about spending time with him

consider taking him

home.

  
  


LOVE POETRY

she borrows a poem

for when he’s elbow propped up above her

sweat sticking together says

“ _i like my body when it is with your body_ ”

and Clint smiles into her skin

“e e cummings, really?”

presses soft damp kisses along her collarbone

_“i like your body. i like what it does”_

she does

she runs her hands down his back

scratching lightly with nails

_“i like to feel the spine of your body and its bones”_

Clint takes one of her hands in his

fingertips stroking palm

words to action as he says

“ _he moved her hand between her legs and whispered,_

_make those pretty little fingers dance for me"_

after, curled up facing each other 

sleeping question marks

  
  


THE BEST FRIEND

"Natalia has matches, right?"

are the first words out of Bucky's mouth

when Clint opens the door.

"Book burning is a _capital offence,"_

Natasha shouts from the sofa

because Bucky is the kind of friend

she doesn't have to get up for

and who storms into her house

on a sunny Sunday morning

to rant at her for half an hour

about a _god awful_ book

that she _has_ to read

to understand how _truly terrible_ it is

and how he _needs_ to set it on fire

(when he knows full well

 _people shouldn't ever burn books ever_ )

and doesn't comment on Clint being here

opening her front door to him

wearing Natasha's 

_I solemnly swear I am up to no good_

t-shirt hugging his chest and biceps

except to ask

can Clint please make him pancakes too

not five minutes after Clint pins down his hand

to stop him

striking a match

over the sink.

Three days later

Natasha hustles Clint out of the room

so she can bitch with Bucky about _T_ _he Magicians_

for two hours.

And so they can discuss

how _fucking hot_ Clint is.

Which they also agree on.

  
  


TALKING ABOUT IT: PART TWO

Natasha isn't a talker.

In bed or out of it.

Bucky asks her

softly how the relationship is going

because they each know the other’s baggage

and that even a smoking hot booklover

singing softly in the kitchen as he washes the dishes

could still be a too good to be true

miracle.

  
  


THE OTHER BEST FRIEND

Kate Bishop

Katie-Kate

Never Katherine

is younger than Natasha expected 

has a key to Clint's apartment

spends hours practising archery with him

babysits his dog sometimes 

comes from money

looks amazing

looks like a walking talking red flag

at first glance

maybe.

Kate is a university student studying International Development and writing 

a dissertation on gendered development. Kate wants to work for the UNDP 

or a big development NGO and save the world. Kate is the reason Clint has 

vegetables in his fridge and feeds the dog on actual dog food and not just pizza. 

Kate works part-time at an archery range and part-time at a supermarket and 

picks up full-time temp jobs during the holidays. Kate is bi and has a girlfriend 

she met at a self-defence class who is apparently _hot as fuck._ Kate makes 

Natasha coffee in Clint's kitchen and talks to her about her favourite books on 

feminism and invites her to join said self-defence class and says

"He can be a dumbass but

he's one of the good ones, okay?"

  
  


THE NEW GUY

"He's just so… _cute_ ," Bucky complains, 

collapsing on her sofa, 

one arm thrown over his eyes,

the fingers of his other hand trailing on the floor. 

"Cute _as fuck,"_ he moans.

Natasha pats him on the head in passing.

"Is he gay, d'you think?

I can't tell if he's keeping his cards close to his chest as the new guy 

or if he's just bloody inscrutable, but Jesus Christ, Steve's edible.

Maybe he's bi?"

"He used to work in an independent art bookshop,"

Clint points out.

"I'd say the odds are in your favour."

“Did you just _Hunger Games_ me?

Damn it.”

  
  


WHAT WANDA OVERHEARD

"Natalia is… 

your partner?"

"Natasha. 

And no,

I'm hers."

  
  


SOMETIMES

Natasha is

afraid?

of becoming less again

an and

But Clint makes her feel

like the and comes after her

if at all

  
  


REALISATION

It’s not his clothes in the wardrobe and drawers and wash basket

Or Liho sleeping on top of Lucky being such a common occurrence

That neither of them bothers to capture a photo of the cuteness anymore.

It’s not the joint shopping list or the pattern of shared chores they’ve fallen into

Or the toothbrush and shampoo and razor and aftershave in the bathroom cabinet

Or Dog Cops saved alongside her documentaries to watch later.

It’s not the ongoing conversation that travels from home to work

Across WhatsApp to Twitter to the shopping list and never really ends

Or the tradition of Takeaway Night when their days off sync up.

It’s not Clint casually picking up tampons for her when she runs out

Or Natasha not having alcohol in the house because who needs it anyway

Or answering for each other, just sometimes.

It’s Kate, showing up with dog food for Lucky and making herself a coffee

in Natasha’s kitchen, lifting down her favourite mug from Natasha’s cupboard,

as comfortable as Natasha’s seen her at Clint’s place

as comfortable as Bucky is here

because Kate's best friend _practically lives here_.

That’s what has her panic calling Bucky.

He’s honestly surprised that she hadn’t noticed.

  
  


OBSERVATION

New Guy Steve

volunteers

to work the pre-Christmas nights shifts with Bucky

only a week after starting.

Natasha is far from 

surprised

when Bucky scores kisses and coffee on 

only the second night.

But then the two of them

have always been better

at looking at each other

than looking in the mirror.

LOSS

he has

a slim blue book

pages bent back

to a poem

about how when people say

if there's anything they can do to help

'Don't Hesitate To Ask'

but they mean the small things

not 

challenging the universe

and he says softly in her ear

when she cries at night,

"I would drive you

_headlong through the universe_

_at ten million miles an hour,"_

trying in his own way to say

his anything means _anything_

which is a nice white lie

& holds her & holds her & holds her

& holds her while she looks through photographs

& holds her when she tells him stories

& holds her hand tight through the service

& holds her hair when the wake comes back up

& tucks her into bed

& stays

Her Nan

would have liked Clint Barton.

  
  


BANISHED

Then there’s the time

he folded back the corner

of a page

in one of her new

special edition

hardback books

like it was nothing

casually creasing his place in it

before reaching out for her

and instead ended up

spending the night on the sofa.

Hot buzz beneath her skin angry

she doesn’t want creases and folds and tears

where he’s been

except when she does.

There’s the time he spends the night on the sofa

because even when they have an argument

this is still his home.

  
  


THIS IS JUST TO SAY

Clint _loves_ the plums poetry meme thing.

Glued to his phone all afternoon

curled up on the sofa, 

feet tucked under the super soft purple blanket 

they picked up on a trip to IKEA.

So excited over an explosion of words on the Internet.

Scrolling through reiterations of

 _forgive me, but; forgive me, but; forgive me, but_.

Sharing his favourites out loud

laughing

those crows feet scrunching up at the corners of his eyes.

It’s not a special moment.

It’s not a lightning strike.

_Forgive me, but_

I think I want to keep you.

  
  


TALKING ABOUT IT: PART THREE

I want to ask you

If you want to move in

Although I think you already have

But what I mean is

I’d like you to stay

If you’d like that

If that would be okay?

He lights up

soft glow like the lights on their Christmas tree

says

_Yes Yes Yes_

**Author's Note:**

>  **Poems referenced and quoted:**
> 
> [The Road Not Taken](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken) by Robert Frost  
> [This Be The Verse](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48419/this-be-the-verse) by Philip Larkin  
> [One](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23524610-one) by Sarah Crossan  
> [Reflections on Ice-breaking](https://allpoetry.com/Reflections-On-Ice-Breaking) by Ogden Nash  
> [Night Mail](https://allpoetry.com/Night-Mail) by W H Auden  
> [Dear Hearing World](https://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/blogs/news/poem-of-the-day-dear-hearing-world) by Raymond Antrobus  
> [The Explosion](https://brianbilston.com/2015/01/14/the-explosion/) by Brian Bilston  
> [God Says Yes To Me](https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/126.html) by Kaylin Haught  
> If I were 18 again by Jonny Ox  
> [[Kissing the stomach]](https://www.lyrikline.org/en/poems/kissing-stomach-6575) by Michael Ondaatje  
> cunnilingus by Vanessa Kisuule (from A Recipe for Sorcery)  
> [i like my body when it is with your body](https://hellopoetry.com/poem/1590/i-like-my-body-when-it-is-with-your/) by e e cummings  
> he moved her hand between her legs by Rupi Kaur  
> [Don't Hesitate To Ask](https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poem/dont-hesitate-ask/) by Michel Faber  
> [This Is Just To Say](https://poets.org/poem/just-say) by William Carlos Williams
> 
> There's a lot of poets and poems that just didn't make it in here so i'm also going to take the opportunity to shout out a few ladies: Hollie McNish, Helen Mort, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Nadine Aisha Jassat, Kate Tempest, Elizabeth Acevdeo, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Carol Ann Duffy.


End file.
